1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a power conversion apparatus having improved electromagnetic interference (EMI) characteristics, and an air conditioner including the same.
2. Background
A compressor of an air conditioner may be driven by a motor. Alternating current (AC) power may be supplied to the motor from a power conversion apparatus (or power converter). The power conversion apparatus may include a rectifier, a power factor controller, and an inverter.
A commercial AC voltage output from a commercial power source may be rectified or otherwise modified by the rectifier, such as to form direct current (DC) power. The voltage rectified by the rectifier may be supplied to the inverter. The inverter may generate AC power to drive the motor using the voltage outputted by the rectifier.
In some power conversion apparatus, a DC-DC converter (also referred to as a DC-to-DC converter) to change, regulate, or otherwise improve a power factor may be provided between the rectifier and the inverter. A collector current, which is a current applied to a switching element, may be raised with a predetermined slope by an inductor component of the motor but may include noise before the switching element is fully switched on. Such noise may be caused by switching noise of the switching element. In this situation, switching noise occurring in each phase may overlap and may be amplified.
This switching noise may deteriorate an electromagnetic interference (EMI) characteristic. While the deterioration of the EMI characteristic may be at least partially addressed by changing a switching frequency or by modifying the circuit configuration of the power conversion apparatus, increased complexity and/or increased costs may arise. Accordingly, improving the EMI characteristic by without changing a switching frequency may be desirable.